Party Food

Old Fashioned Chili Recipe

Let me tell you why this is the best chili recipe – bonus points that it is easy too!

Old fashioned chili is an easy, delicious, homemade meal that is ready in just half an hour. My simple recipe combines beef and beans with a robust tomato sauce and spices for a hearty pot of chili you’ll love.

Making The Best Chili:

A simple, homemade recipe is so good for the soul — both for the person making it and the people getting to enjoy it. Whenever I have a hard day, I head to the kitchen. The chopping, the stirring, the simmering, the melding of flavors is good therapy for a tired heart.

In a world of quick heat and serve, taking the time to make something worth eating is a beautiful tradition I will always hold onto.

Our neighbors held a chili cook off recently. I made a big pot of my favorite old fashioned chili, some cornbread muffins and made my way over to the big event. It was a HUGE HIT!

This old fashioned chili recipe will make you think of meals at grandma’s when you were little. It’s hearty and filling. The flavors are perfect. (This beef and bean chili is a close second.)

It’s the best chili recipe! Everyone always scrape their bowls clean and then come back for seconds. And sometimes thirds. That’s how good it is — dare I say, award winning even?

There aren’t often leftovers of it, that’s how much we gobble it up. It’s hearty and filling and everything you hope for when you think of a bowl of chili.

I especially love making chili so I’m partnering with Mirum and their client Hunts to bring you a delicious, all American recipe from my family to yours. I’m sure you’ll love it as much as we do.

So let’s get onto the recipe!

Chili Ingredients

All the ingredients are basic, but they create a wonderful, mild flavor that’s so good. Plus, it’s quick to pull together, which is perfect if you’re a busy mama like me.

You’ll need:

ground beef (or ground turkey)

kidney beans

green pepper

yellow onion

diced tomatoes

tomato sauce

tomato paste

I use Hunt’s Diced Tomatoes when I make my chili. I feel good knowing I’m serving something high quality to my family. They make a big difference in the finished product and the flavor can’t be beat!

Sometimes I throw in a dash of brown sugar as well. I tell the boys it’s a secret ingredient.

What Spices Go in a Chili Recipe

This easy chili recipe is packed with yummy seasoning, which in my opinion, makes it the best chili recipe ever. My best friend lives in Texas and all the spices in this easy chili recipe remind me of the Southern meals I’ve eaten with her.

For seasoning in this recipe, we’re grabbing allllll the spices. They’re going to combine to create the most amazing flavor.

What Beans Do You Use in a Chili Recipe?

Traditionally, you would use kidney beans in chili. But you could also try another kind of bean such as black beans or pinto beans.

You could also increase the beans and reduce the amount of meat — or eliminate the meat altogether to make it a vegetarian option.

What to Serve with Chili

Obviously, I love serving chili alongside some fresh, hot cornbread. You should be baking some cornbread right.this.second. And eating it with butter and chili until you’re full and happy.

I also love serving it with a dollop of sour cream and some sharp cheddar cheese on top.

When I was in high school, a dear friend of mine celebrated her birthday in October.

The first year I attended her party, when her mom served me my bowl of chili, there was a big spoonful of sour cream on top and a handful of shredded, sharp cheddar cheese. I was amazed — I had never tried it that way before and was blown away by how incredible the flavor was.

I’ve been hooked on the sour cream and sharp cheddar cheese serving method ever since. I don’t think my boys know any other way to eat it!

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Layne is a boy mom in love. Surrounded by three adventurous little men, she's in pursuit of an empty laundry basket, the perfect cup of coffee, and sleep. She blogs, parents, and manages social media while wearing her tiara.

I was wondering if I could just use my slow cooker. Glad I can. I made chili before in it, it was a different recipe & it was a big hit. I never heard of baking soda in a chili.. I am going to make this tomorrow. For my roommates 50th birthday dinner.

So far, so good! I initially thought it was an extreme amount of spices, but it tastes great. I opted for a can of kidney beans, and one of black beans. Love the baking soda – it was like a science experiment. After simmering, we put it in our crock pot….tastes great! I also only had chili tomato sauce and chili beans…The only thing we didn’t put in was the chipotle powder, since we couldn’t find any at the store. I also thought that it just wouldn’t be “that much”…but filled a big crock pot. I was ready to add some v8…but nope – perfect as is. Can’t remember what website I got the recipe from – as I “saved” it on my facebook account.

On Saturday, your chili recipe will be served at our church Call Bazaar Soup kitchen. It was quite easy to mak e and smells SO GOOD. I didn’t have chipotle powder so just added a half tablespoon more of chili powder. Thanks for sharing your recipe on Pinterest!

Yes, that’s what I would do. As far as the baking soda… I haven’t tried it in the crockpot, but you could try doing it according to the directions and see how that works or completely omit it if you wanted to. Enjoy!

My name is Stephanie

And, thanks to my adorable son, I am celebrating a life filled with boyish charm. Join me and my best boy-mom friends as we share fun recipe and party ideas, games, cool crafts, DIYs and more.

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